Thursday, August 30, 2012

If you are wondering why I've become cynical about Iran. Here are some of the results of 10 minutes of Googling a single term - "the decisive year" on Iran in Hebrew. As you can see every year since 2007 has been labeled the "decisive" year about Iran, by a high level Israeli politician or commentator. This list is far from exhaustive.

Sunday, August 26, 2012

The eccentric Englishman, Christopher Smart (d. 1770) wrote a lengthy ode in praise of his cat, "Jeoffry" [sic]. It was only published in 1939, by the poet W.H. Auden, and was apparently then incorporated in an operetta by Benjamin Britten. For the full story of Smart, see: http://bit.ly/RPv6t1

The poem contains the following lines:

"For the Lord commanded Moses concerning the cats at the departure of the Children of Israel from Egypt.

For every family had one cat at least in the bag."

Can Benjamin or any learned reader of his blog give a Jewish source for this assertion? (Maybe connected to the divine status of the cat in ancient Egypt?)

Finally, mazal-tov to Mr and Mrs Tudela on the brit milah of Tudela #3. In attendance (among others) were Abba Tudela, Brother Tudela and Uncle Tudela. Uncle Tudela, having served as Sandek to Benjamin of Tudela himself several decades earlier, was honoured to be the sandek to his son as well.

I had a look again at the story today, and surprise the word "first" has been deleted from the title of the page. Here is the original title:

Here is the current page:

As you can see they changed the title to remove the "first" claim. The same corrections were made in the Hebrew version of the article - only there they left a double gap in the first sentence where they deleted the word "first" (לראשונה) used to be.

Ha'aretz did not post a correction (or at least I haven't found it).

The Guardian continues to publish the story, despite it being debunked.

I recently rediscovered on my bookshelf, the classic "Zen in the art of archery" by Eugen Herrigel. Though I've never been mystically inclined myself, there was a brief period of time where I enjoyed reading such books and remember them quite fondly.

As I was re-skimming my way through the book, I had a dim memory of reading a response to the book by Gershom Schloem in his collections. Thankfully the Internet has relieved us all of the burden of memory, and within seconds of Googling I was able to retrieve the article. I was also pleasantly surprised to discover I was not going to have to sit and translate it for the blog as the original was in English and not in the Hebrew I had previously read.

This short letter by Gersom Schloem was written in 1961 and published in "Encounter".Make sure you read it through to its amusing finish:

Zen-Nazism?
With reference to the article by Arthur Koestlcr, "A Stink of Zen," in your October issue, I think I ought to make a remark illustrating his point concerning the amoralism of Zen teaching. Kocstler goes in for a lengthy criticism of Eugen Herrigel’s Zen in the art of archery and some other texts by Zen adherents. About one he says that what he quoted could "come from a philosophically-minded Nazi journalist." It has obviously escaped Koestler’s attention that Eugen Herrigel, who wrote this widely-discussed treatise, had in fact become a member of the Nazi Party after his return from Japan and having obtained whatever Zen illumination he might have got there. This fact has been carefully hushed up by the circle of his admirers after the war and it is thus small wonder that Koestler did not hear about it. Herrigel joined the Nazi Party after the outbreak of the war and some of his former friends in Frankfurt, who broke with him over this issue, told me about his career as a convinced Nazi, when I enquired about him in 1946. He was known to have stuck it out to the bitter end. This was not mentioned in some biographical notes on Herrigel published by his widow, who built up his image as one concerned with the higher spiritual sphere only. Herrigel’s case is an excellent illustration of what happened to many high-minded German intellectuals.
On the other hand, when in 1954 I asked Dr.Suzuki Point-blank whether someone who had passed through a true Zen experience could have become a Nazi, he flatly denied this possibility. At the same time, however, he also denied having known any Westerner who--in his opinion--had achieved true Zen illumination or satori. This left me not a little baffled--which of course may be just the right state of mind for a student of Zen, or for that matter, for any student of the history of mysticism in general.

A few weeks ago the Pulitzer prize-winning author Alice Walker announced to much fanfare that she refuses to allow her book "The Color Purple" to be published in Hebrew. She explained her decision as follows:

"I grew up under American apartheid and this was far worse," she wrote. "Indeed, many South Africans who attended, including Desmond Tutu, felt the Israeli version of these crimes is worse even than what they suffered under the white supremacist regimes that dominated South Africa for so long. It is my hope that the non-violent BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) movement, of which I am part, will have enough of an impact on Israeli civilian society to change the situation."

This was only the latest Walker anti-Israel activity. She had previously particpated in a 2011 "aid" floatilla to Gaza, and participated as a Juror on the farcical "Russel Tribunal on Palestine" that declared Israel an Apartheid state.

My admiration for Fidel Castro is well known. Whether one likes or dislikes what Fidel represents – and I like what he represents – he seems to me a truly extraordinary human being. Filled with love for the suffering beings of the world, and with a willingness to fight alongside them for their liberation.

Just in case you didn't appreciate her admiration for the dictatorial Castro enough, she adds:

I also admire the Dalai Lama and can appreciate the similarity between His Holiness and Father Fidel. One waged war to overthrow a dictatorship that degraded and almost destroyed the people of Cuba, and the other wages peace toward an adversary, the Chinese government, which to this day shows no sign of mercy toward the Tibetan people.

So what planet is she from?

Where do you feel most at home?

I feel completely at home in this Universe, which I consider a perfect marvel. And specifically I feel I am an Earthling.

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

The above picture was posted on Rotter.net, and is supposedly from a rental contract. Roughly translated it states:

The tenant acknoweldges that he knows that the beginning of the term of rent in this contract is based on the date when the Landlord will receive ownership of a house being built. Should the ownership of the new house be delayed due to a reason not in the control of the landlord or the Contractor including a war or an attack on Iran or its branches in Sinai, Gaza and Lebanon, directly or indirectly, and/or due to national "downtime" due to any of the reasons listed above, the beginning of the term of rent will be delayed according to the delay caused by the events, but not for more than three months.

This type of clause isn't that unusual in Israel. Most large contracts have some clause providing for a war breaking out. I've even written in the past about a clause for a renter to vacate his apartment should the Messiah arrive. What is more unusual is that an attack on Iran is spelled out.

Monday, August 20, 2012

For the first time, the U.S. State Department has cited violence by settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank under the heading "terrorist incidents" in its annual Country Report on Terrorism.

This claim has now been repeated numerous times by foreign media (Guardian story), and even tweeted by Ken Roth, head of Human Rights Watch. I don't think anyone sensible would ever argue that certain "Price Tag" actions fit the dictionary definition of terror. However, is 2011 really the first time the US State Department listed settler violence as terrorism? Lets examine some of the past reports:

On October 4, arson was committed by Israeli citizens against a mosque southwest of Bethlehem in the village of Beit Fajjar, which is under Israeli security control. In addition to fire damage, the mosque was vandalized with Hebrew-language graffiti "revenge" and "price tag."

On October 20, arson was committed against a Palestinian girls' school building south of Nablus in the village of As Sawiya, which is under Israeli security control. The damaged building also had Hebrew-language graffiti: "regards from the hilltops," suggesting the attack was conducted by Israeli settlers.

A high-profile case raised awareness regarding settler violence and acts of terrorism. On October 7, Israeli security services arrested American-born settler Yaacov “Jack” Teitel in connection with a number of crimes and terrorist attacks over the past 12 years. Teitel was arrested for posting anti-homosexual flyers, and later confessed to a number of crimes, including the murder of two Palestinians in 1997. He also claimed responsibility for several attempted bombings, including sending a parcel bomb to a Messianic Jewish family in Ariel in which a 15-year old Israeli-American boy was injured, and placing a pipe-bomb that injured Israel Prize laureate and peace activist Professor Zeev Sternhell in September 2008.

On June 1 and 20, Israeli settlers fired three rockets toward the Palestinian town of Burin. In late July, settlers threw a Molotov cocktail into a home in Burin as well. No injuries were reported from either attackOn September 25, a prominent Hebrew University professor and critic of Jewish settlements in the West Bank was wounded when a pipe bomb, allegedly planted by radical members of the settlement movement, exploded as he opened the door of his home in West Jerusalem. After the attack, police found flyers near the academic’s home calling for the establishment of a new state in the West Bank based on Jewish religious law. The flyers, signed by a Jewish extremist group called the Army of the State Liberators, also offered USD 314,000 to anyone who killed a member of the non-governmental organization, Peace Now. Israeli Security Services continued to investigate the attack.

In December, Israel convicted and sentenced an Israeli man for membership in the "New Jewish Underground," a terrorist organization that aimed to carry out attacks on Arab civilians. On September 29, a group of five Israeli settlers attacked and seriously wounded two US citizens, members of an NGO, who were escorting Palestinian children to school near Hebron. As of the end of 2004, the Israeli police had not arrested those responsible.

. Those reading Barak Ravid's article get a false impression that until 2011 there have been different standards applied to Israeli and Palestinians actions. However, the truth is that the US State Department has been naming terror - Jewish or otherwise - on an equal basis since 2004.

Friday, August 17, 2012

There is little I hate more than having to wait for an operator on the phone. Even worse, I hate having to go through a list of options on the phone "press 1 for customer service, press 2 for complaints" etc... I almost always find that I pressed the wrong button, or that I have to do the same process a few times until someone answers.

That why I'm really enjoing the App Zappix (I use an android phone). It lists most of the big companies or gov't services that you are likely to call, and presents their automated system visually. You click through the options, until you reach the point where you would be answered by a human operator - and only then it dials the full number.

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

How many novels have you actually read twice? Three times? I think I can count all the novels I've read twice on one hand. So why is it so hard to throw them away? Why can't I force myself to give them to the library?

I'm getting to the point where I have no choice - all the really bad books must go!

Sunday, August 12, 2012

Can you guess to which community this classic word processor was marketed to? Hint: They like black hats.

No its not Haredim. This is an ad for the Amish - "Plain People". This is how the blog "Amish Internet Blog" explains the marketing:

The flyer’s creator knew his audience. Unlike ads for the new Apple product of the moment, this downplays the computer’s tech touting it as “just a workhorse for your business.” It would provide “unequaled safety” because it had “no modem, no phone port or Internet connection, no outside programs, no sound, no pictures, no games or gimmicks.”

Hmm...when its descibed that way, he really could have sold it to the "other black hats".

I think most readers of the blog are familiar with the Haredi "Kosher" mobile phone - basically a phone with no internet connection and no SMS. However I was somewhat surprised to see an ad in "Makor Rishon" for a (apparently) Religious Zionist version:

(The Ad was a full page, so I couldn't scan the top)

The Ad starts with a letter from "Rabbis and Educators" warning of the dangers of smart phones. This is a fairly routine warning. Now lets notice the big differences between a RZ phone and a Haredi one. It seems that while Haredim are not allowed to have SMS the RZ kids are. Also it appears RZ kids are allowed to listen to music, but not watch videos.

So why the differences? My understanding is that Haredim are not allowed to have SMS because it was both a distraction, and because it might be used to communicate with girls. Both reasons would seem to be as legitimate for RZ kids - at least ones whose parents are inclined to buy "old" phones disguised as religious phones.

Saturday, August 11, 2012

The term "Hardal" (חרד"ל) is Hebrew initials for Charedi Dati Leumi (חרדי דתי לאומי), and is used to describe an ever growing sub-group in the Religious Zionist movement that has embraced certain characteristics of the Haredi community: the rejection or minimum necessity of non Torah studies; empowering Rabbis as the all encompassing communal leaders; living in closed communities and rejecting the "torah Ve'avodah" belief. They are still seen as being a part of the Dati-Leumi group as they continue to see a religious significance to the state and usually still serve in the army.

Over the weekend I noticed not one, but two different articles which were using the term "Torani" instead of Chardal - both by self professed members of the Chardal community. It can be surmised from the fact that in both cases the author felt compelled to explain the term by adding in brackets "Chardal", that this is a new term - or at least one that has yet to catch on.

I understand why the Hardalnicks would want to rebrand themselves.Haredim are not popular in any part of the society - not even the Religious Zionist. Even more so, associating them with Haredim has the implicit undertone that they are no longer part of the RZ movement - a movement that rather than trying to disassociate themselves from they are increasingly trying to influence and even lead.

However, if Hardal was offensive to "Hardalnickim" the new term they are using "Torani" (Literally "those of the Torah") is even more offensive for those of us who consider ourselves true Religious Zionists. Torani implies that the rest of us are somehow less religious than they are - that somehow they are closer to the Torah. The Religious Zionist movement is sensitive to these arguments - its exactly the attitude we can't stand from the Haredi community. It is that adoption of a superior smugness, coupled with a disregard for the religious world of others, that makes the term Torani even closer to the image of Haredim that Hardalnickim are trying to avoid.

In the United States itself, domestic carriers are not allowed to have these two separate fees, but international carriers are allowed to do so It is this author’s view, the fact that it is technically not part of the sale itself, has implications both ways too – and one would not be forced to undo the deal from a halachic perspective.

...

Is there an obligation of going beyond the letter of the law here and return it anyway?
It is this author’s opinion it is recommended that one go beyond the letter of the law when there are individuals who would undergo financial distress in such circumstances. Here, however, each individual should make the choice himself.

I hate these kinds of answers. Firstly - you don't really understand what the final decision is. Would El-Al - a large company - enter financial distress in these circumstances? Secondly, how much Torah learning do you need to figure out you are not supposed to abuse someone's honest mistake? (funnily enough, he actually reached the opposite answer).

El Al should offer to honor all those tickets, and the customers should decline the offer....However, even if El Al offers to make good on the tickets, we are not supposed to exploit someone. If you see someone’s wallet on the ground you are supposed to return it, not keep it

I recommend you read the entire answer. It is clear, concise and does not go into needless Pilpul to state the obvious answer, that you shouldn't be profiting from someone's honest mistake.

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

The Living:

New haredi eyeglasses marketed in the Mea Shearim neighborhood of Jerusalem are meant to blur vision to prevent men from seeing women on the street.

The new glasses blur the vision of the men who wear them, so these men cannot clearly see anything ten feet or more away, Yediot Achranot's Hebrew website Mynet reports. For men who already wear regular glasses, the company offers stickers which can cover the lenses to create the necessary blur.

The glasses and lense stickers are being marketed specifically to help men avoid seeing 'immodestly' dressed women on the street.

* Late edit - After I posted this story yesterday, I've slightly had a change of heart. In truth, no one has ever seen a Haredi Man wearing these glasses. As such, all liklihood is that this is the brain child of a single person - and not representative of any real "haredi" chumrah. This is more a case of everyone - myself included - being too quick to jump on a weird story.

The Dead:

A haredi man who died eight years ago was exhumed from his grave last Thursday and reburied on the Mount of Olives, because his children felt the people buried next to him had not been sufficiently observant of Jewish law to allow their father to be buried alongside them.

According to the haredi news website Be’hadrei Haredim, the family received permission from several leading rabbis to rebury the man – including the late Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv, a week before he was hospitalized in February this year.

Clearly those buried next to the Haredi Man were not wearing their Tzniut Glasses.

Sunday, August 5, 2012

It is imperative that this election not be turned into a referendum over Israel's security in which a vote for the Republican candidate is seen as a vote in favor of Israel's security, while a vote for the Democratic candidate is seen as a vote against Israel's security. Such a perception could prove disastrous for Israel since it is very possible—indeed in my view likely—that President Obama will be reelected, and that his reelection will not turn on differences between him and Romney over Israel's security. That is why I am so concerned about the approach taken by those who argue that every Jew who supports Israel must vote for Mitt Romney, because President Obama's record on Israel is far from perfect.

My reading of this - if you force Americans to perceive the election as a referendum of US support for Israel - and the democrats won - will they not come to the conclusion that the American public does not support Israel as much as it is commonly perceived to?

Friday, August 3, 2012

Today is TU B'av - what has become the Jewish "day of love". Weirdly, rather than a celebration of romantic love it seems the papers are filled with articles on why "love" has become impossible in today's day and age.

Jewish Ideas Daily - one of my faivorate reads, has published an article "Is Romantic Love a Jewish Value?" by Ben GreenField, in essence a defence of the literal meaning of Song and Songs - though allegory to God's relationship with Israel.

Shocking that anyone can write about Romance and Judaism, without at least mentioning the story of Jacob and Rachel. For me this understanding will forever be connected with Harav Mordechai Breur. In class he once told us that anyone who tries to explain the Pasuk "And Jacob loved Rachel; and he said: 'I will serve thee seven years for Rachel thy younger daughter.'" in any manner other than the Pshat, is simply missing the point. He then continued for an hour to tell stories of well known Jews who loved their wives in the most simple romantic way.

The "Tal Law" which exempted the Haredim from army service expired last night at midnight. And yet when I woke up this morning it seemed as if nothing had changed. The Haredim I saw on the way to work, were still not wearing army green. Nor did they seem scared of the multitudes of cops seeking to arrest them as "draft dodgers."

What happened this morning is that as a collective we all shrugged, and decided to just keep going.